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Interesting Lacewell quote on Ratliff

People seem to be forgetting that Williams is still a rookie and playing a position that is very difficult to transition from college. Most WR's don't start to really contribute until their 2nd or 3rd year unless your Randy Moss.

He does have a couple of issues regarding fundamentals, but that will be taken care of in the offseason, I believe. Romo is very high in him and is surprised he has contributed as quickly as he has. Romo thought he would need another year before he "gets it".

Williams is far from a finished product, but I am much more positive about him than others are. I think he will make a terrific compliment to Dez in the short to medium term.

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No kidding. He's already been a solid contributor. He's already been way better than almost anyone could have expected. I'm betting the people who don't like him didn't like the draft pick when we made it.

It really is pretty sad what happened to the slated front four. With Spencer and Rat both lost for the year without so much as a snap, Ware hobbled for half the year, so far, and the two top rotational guys also both lost before the season even really got started. Ouch. Throw in Hacher's pinched nerve, or whatever it ended up being, and our top 6 players on the DL have all been compromised, with 4 lost for the year. Ouch.

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Old age and Jerry not making players train with the team.. it was almost to be expected. While Ware isn't that old he has a lot of miles. We need a complete overhaul on the D-Line. Marinelli is making the most of what he has but they haven't been making many plays lately, every coach needs SOME talent.

Old age and Jerry not making players train with the team.. it was almost to be expected. While Ware isn't that old he has a lot of miles. We need a complete overhaul on the D-Line. Marinelli is making the most of what he has but they haven't been making many plays lately, every coach needs SOME talent.

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Some level of injuries was expected. But Crawford and Bass are young players, too. And having two of the vets never even play a snap was beyond what we should have anticipated. Especially with Spencer only, what, 30?

Next year was obviously the year they'd prepared to start rotating over the DL, but the wheels fell off a year early in a big, big way. We should have maybe expected a couple flat tires. Maybe having to replace one altogether. But not six at the mid-season mark.

People seem to be forgetting that Williams is still a rookie and playing a position that is very difficult to transition from college. Most WR's don't start to really contribute until their 2nd or 3rd year unless your Randy Moss.

He does have a couple of issues regarding fundamentals, but that will be taken care of in the offseason, I believe. Romo is very high in him and is surprised he has contributed as quickly as he has. Romo thought he would need another year before he "gets it".

Williams is far from a finished product, but I am much more positive about him than others are. I think he will make a terrific compliment to Dez in the short to medium term.

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Please don't misunderstand my criticisms as being down on him, in fact, I'm still pleasantly surprised by how much he has contributed this year and I am optimistic about his future.

Some level of injuries was expected. But Crawford and Bass are young players, too. And having two of the vets never even play a snap was beyond what we should have anticipated. Especially with Spencer only, what, 30?

Next year was obviously the year they'd prepared to start rotating over the DL, but the wheels fell off a year early in a big, big way. We should have maybe expected a couple flat tires. Maybe having to replace one altogether. But not six at the mid-season mark.

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True, hopefully the likes of Ratliff didn't rub off on them and this situation taught Jerry a lesson. Very wishful thinking I know

You must not have watched the last 26 seconds of the Baltimore game last year. Remember - clock stopped, Dallas with the ball on Baltimore 33, 26 seconds on game clock, Dallas has one TO remaining. Miles and Ogletree lined up wide right, Dez is wide left. Dallas snaps the ball, Romo comletes a pass to Dez for no yards while Miles and Ogletree run streak routes into the end zone. After Dez is tackled, there is 19 seconds on the clock. The remaining 9 offensive team members are trying to get lined up so Romo can clock the ball. The camera cuts to Ogletree and Miles who are leisurely jog trotting (I can walk faster than that and I am disabled and on a walker) back toward the line of scrimmage. Dallas is forced to let the clock run down to 4 seconds and then call their last TO and try a 51 yard field goal. No good and Dallas loses after only being able to run one play with 26 seconds and a time out left.

If you don't remember all of the complaints after that, all I can conclude is you slept through the entire week following the Ravens game or your famously selective memory is kicking in.

Monte Sliger

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Again, Monte. If you feel that gives you some justification to hate...I feel bad for you. There was a lot of controversy surrounding time management of that game...and JG took responsibility. It was assumed he was going to call a time out. Should Ogletree and Austin assumed a time-and not hustled back? No! But is that one mistake a reason to forever hate a player? Wow...I would hope not.

I agree with him in general. The defense has a ton of street guys playing but that's not solely because of injuries. Beyond the front 4 they really didn't have much at all in the spring. Outside of Ware, Hatcher, Spencer, and Ratlif what was there? Solid expectations for Crawford? Prayers Nick Hayden didn't have to be called into a ton of action and then Kyle Wilbur who was going to be moving to DE in his 2nd season and didn't even really play as a rookie? A couple of guys they added to the active roster late last year?

Basically 4 starters and 1 depth guy in Crawford. Out of what would be projected a 10-man unit?

The started the year with nothing behind the starting players. Nick Hayden was actually signed early in the year but he's a carryover street free agent from 2012 when he was cut in the preseason because of injury and then waited by the phone for a call for most of the year after he healed. Wilbur had almost no experience at all and wasn't even drafted to play DL. Ben Bass was on the roster and he went to IR but he was called up from the PS at the end of 2012. Not exactly all that hard to replace at the beginning of August. Teams will be cutting lots of guys and trying to get them onto their own practice squads and you can vulture whatever play you want off a practice squad anyway.

They really didn't have anything at all to begin with. Of course you're going to have a ton of street free agents starting when you build half the unit full of street free agents. If you build your depth with street free agents, you'll be seeing them on the field a lot because that's just the nature of the game. They lost Crawford, Spencer, and Ratliff. That's significant but it shouldn't result in having like 7 street free agents on your DL.

This is also part of the problem. Just assuming it will work for you as it works for others. Maybe they should call up Mike Zimmer and ask for the recipe.

Might have something to do with THREE 2nd round picks, TWO 3rd round picks and hitting a 4th rounder out of the park in Geno Atkins since 2010. 4 drafts and they've spent 3 of their 2nd round picks on the DL. Dallas has 3rd round Tyrone Crawford and 4th round Brandon Williams in that span. Of course, kind of hard to use a 2nd round pick on the DL when you trade it away or have to meet the once ever 4-5 seasons TE quota.

The defense is beat up badly but you don't get into a position where you're rotating street free agents as starters almost as soon as the season kicks off simply because you've had 2 starters and a backup go down. You get there because the guys who are playing behind your backups are street free agents as well and some guy currently walking the street can beat them out simply because he's more hungry. Thankfully Selvie was a very good acquisition.

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They are going to call up mike Zimmer in a few weeks. He will be the next head coach here in about two months.

This article confirms it was lace well that got Jerry to switch to the 4-3 and hire grandpa Kiffin.

It's completely asinine this is how this organization operates. A guys go has nothing to do with the organization is the swing vote on which defense we play and essentially he hires the coach.

I did enjoy this article, I understand the theory back in the last off-season leading up to and including the draft. (About the no-need for Dlinemen). This just shows how flawed that idea was, as in no depth behind the projected starters apart from Crawford. And yes, the only player I would really hold onto for next year is Selvie, of the street free agents.
Being out in the Islands, I don't hear or see all the goings on that most in the Dallas area do - so I have a question for this off season. That maybe some of you guys can help with. We will stay with the 4-3, will all the coach's be the same ? Yet to be determined, so, we need to restock the Dline. And not just a top draft pick or two, but depth as well. Which gets me to my question - can someone tell me what the hell happened with Marvin Austin ? Apart from the back injury, why not IR him, I would think he would have been perfect as a rotational player for us. Was there more to the story than just a bad back, cause I haven't seen or heard anything. I keep hopeing that he will be bought in and given a futures contract at years end, so he can get with Marrinelli, get his weight down and train. He would be ideal to put in as a low cost rotational player - not starter. If he could get a solid off-season in. Or, am I missing something ???

I did enjoy this article, I understand the theory back in the last off-season leading up to and including the draft. (About the no-need for Dlinemen). This just shows how flawed that idea was, as in no depth behind the projected starters apart from Crawford. And yes, the only player I would really hold onto for next year is Selvie, of the street free agents.
Being out in the Islands, I don't hear or see all the goings on that most in the Dallas area do - so I have a question for this off season. That maybe some of you guys can help with. We will stay with the 4-3, will all the coach's be the same ? Yet to be determined, so, we need to restock the Dline. And not just a top draft pick or two, but depth as well. Which gets me to my question - can someone tell me what the hell happened with Marvin Austin ? Apart from the back injury, why not IR him, I would think he would have been perfect as a rotational player for us. Was there more to the story than just a bad back, cause I haven't seen or heard anything. I keep hopeing that he will be bought in and given a futures contract at years end, so he can get with Marrinelli, get his weight down and train. He would be ideal to put in as a low cost rotational player - not starter. If he could get a solid off-season in. Or, am I missing something ???

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It seems like no one in the media bothered to ask about Austin, or maybe they did and decided it was a non-story. Was he just waived/injured because it was a better alternative to IR, or did he rub the coaching staff the wrong way in what little time he spent here?

You must not have watched the last 26 seconds of the Baltimore game last year. Remember - clock stopped, Dallas with the ball on Baltimore 33, 26 seconds on game clock, Dallas has one TO remaining. Miles and Ogletree lined up wide right, Dez is wide left. Dallas snaps the ball, Romo comletes a pass to Dez for no yards while Miles and Ogletree run streak routes into the end zone. After Dez is tackled, there is 19 seconds on the clock. The remaining 9 offensive team members are trying to get lined up so Romo can clock the ball. The camera cuts to Ogletree and Miles who are leisurely jog trotting (I can walk faster than that and I am disabled and on a walker) back toward the line of scrimmage. Dallas is forced to let the clock run down to 4 seconds and then call their last TO and try a 51 yard field goal. No good and Dallas loses after only being able to run one play with 26 seconds and a time out left.

If you don't remember all of the complaints after that, all I can conclude is you slept through the entire week following the Ravens game or your famously selective memory is kicking in.

Please don't misunderstand my criticisms as being down on him, in fact, I'm still pleasantly surprised by how much he has contributed this year and I am optimistic about his future.

Sorry if that came out wrong.

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I did not take it that way but I understand what you are saying. My main contention was that it is foolish to look at Austin and believe that we are better without him then we are with him at this point in the teams development. His salary is basically neutral. I'm really hoping that his presence opens up the offense, going forward.

I feel like Tony has kind of gone away from Williams a little bit and that's making our Offense more predictable.

You must not have watched the last 26 seconds of the Baltimore game last year. Remember - clock stopped, Dallas with the ball on Baltimore 33, 26 seconds on game clock, Dallas has one TO remaining. Miles and Ogletree lined up wide right, Dez is wide left. Dallas snaps the ball, Romo comletes a pass to Dez for no yards while Miles and Ogletree run streak routes into the end zone. After Dez is tackled, there is 19 seconds on the clock. The remaining 9 offensive team members are trying to get lined up so Romo can clock the ball. The camera cuts to Ogletree and Miles who are leisurely jog trotting (I can walk faster than that and I am disabled and on a walker) back toward the line of scrimmage. Dallas is forced to let the clock run down to 4 seconds and then call their last TO and try a 51 yard field goal. No good and Dallas loses after only being able to run one play with 26 seconds and a time out left.

If you don't remember all of the complaints after that, all I can conclude is you slept through the entire week following the Ravens game or your famously selective memory is kicking in.

Monte Sliger

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I was at this ballgame. And yes that effort back to the line was poor. But any idiot that knows anything about football should have known to call a TO right then and there and worry about gaining yards on the next play followed by a hurry up and down situation.

Garrett (and to a shared degree the officiating in that ballgame) lost the game. Again.